The Demon of Love
by brokenmoonlight
Summary: Sequel to Sunshine & Lollipops. It's Valentine's day, and Vince and Howard are looking forward to a romantic evening together - surely nothing could spoil it?


**A/N: This is a sequel to Sunshine & Lollipops, although you don't really need to read that one first, but, you know, feel free too... Ahem. This story is dedicated to all the wonderful people who reviewed my other story – thank you so much!**

**Disclaimer: Really, really not mine.**

**xxxx**

Vince woke up that morning contented and warm, a sleepy smile playing over his perfectly structured features as he slowly opened his eyes. He stretched an arm out, quickly realising that he was alone when he didn't feel a warm body next to his. He sat up, rubbing his bleary eyes and blinking until his vision cleared. As he yawned he noticed a note on Howard's pillow and he snatched it up.

'Stay right where you are, little man.

I've got a surprise for you, but for now you can open that one.

H xx'

That one? Vince looked round and smiled when he noticed what was standing on the bedside table - a bouquet of a dozen, deep red roses lay there along with a small, neatly wrapped box. A stupidly dizzy grin on his face, Vince picked up the box and tore the paper off eagerly, pulling off the lid in excited anticipation as to what was inside. His eyes lit up so brightly that they easily outshone Vegas by a long shot. In the box, on a piece of purple crushed velvet lining, lay a silver chain with a wishbone pendant. He picked it up, and, feeling a roughness on the back, turned it over. He grinned when he saw the inscription, 'To you, from me xx'. Vince undid the clasp and placed it round his neck before grabbing a nearby hand-mirror and to see how it looked. Perfect, he thought, running a hand through his hair at the same time to tame it a bit. The door clicked then, and he looked up to see Howard coming through the door with a tray of food.

"Good morning," he said, a cheery smile on his face.

Vince looked up lovingly at him and tugged gently at the chain round his neck. "Thank you," he said, almost shyly, a lovely blush spreading over his cheeks, making him appear almost angelic.

Howard stared at him, his breath momentarily catching in the back of his throat at the sight of the man in his bed, his hair ruffled adorably around his pink tinged face.

"You like it then?" he said, remembering what he was doing and placing the tray on the bed.

"I love it, the roses too," Vince replied, leaning towards Howard as he sat on the bed and placing a gentle peck on his lips. "And you made breakfast?"

"Your favourite – pancakes with chopped bananas, maple syrup and sprinkles," he said, dishing the food out onto two plates and pouring two cups of tea, handing one to Vince.

"This looks great."

"If you think that's good, wait till you see what I've got lined up for tonight." Howard cut into one of his pancakes and watched Vince intently and he went over this information in his head, his eyes darkening slightly with desire. Howard chuckled.

"I'm taking you out," he said, knowing perfectly well what Vince was thinking about.

It had only been a week since they had confessed their feelings, and the excitement of the first flushes of love was still overpowering. But for all the touching and kissing and cuddling, the one thing they hadn't yet done was make love. That, they had decided, was the one thing they didn't want to rush, but they both had the feeling that tonight was going to be the night.

Vince leant forward and licked away a dribble of syrup from Howard's bottom lip, smiling against his mouth when Howard kissed him before he could pull away. It quickly became a lot more and, for a moment, as he was pushed back into the pillows, Vince thought that maybe he wouldn't have to wait until tonight after all. Timing wasn't on his side though, as a knock on the door a few seconds later made them both moan in something that definitely was not pleasure.

"Guys," Naboo called through the door, "Bollo and I are heading off in a minute and you need to go and open the shop."

They both sighed and Howard sat back, straightening his shirt. It was then that he noticed that their breakfast was no longer on their plates, but all over the bedcovers.

"Oops," Vince said, stifling a giggle.

"I'll clean it up later. Come on – up."

Vince pouted and crossed his arms over his chest. "Do we have to open the shop today?"

"'Fraid so," he said, placing a kiss on Vince's head and ruffling his hair affectionately. "You get dressed and I guess I'll see you in a couple of hours." He ducked when a pillow flew towards his head. "Vincent," he warned, a mock scowl on his face, although he couldn't keep the smile away for long.

Vince stuck his tongue out at him, but before Howard could open the door to leave, his flamboyant other-half had leapt across the room and pinned him to the door, smothering his lips fiercely with his own and bringing his hands up to clutch at his hair before quickly pulling away from him and waltzing off towards his wardrobe, a wicked smile playing over his lips.

Howard just stood there in a daze, his face flushed and hair sticking up in a hundred different directions. He opened his mouth to speak, only managing to emit a small squeak before deciding to reach behind him for the door handle. He opened the door and fell through it, stumbling into the hallway with a stupid grin on his face.

xxxx

Vince made an effort to get ready for work as quickly as he could, and only an hour later he was sauntering into the shop, looking perfect and feeling very pleased with himself. Howard was sitting with his feet up on the counter, looking through the mail and rubbing a hand over his chin.

"Hey," Vince said, perching on the counter next to his feet. "What you got there?"

"Oh, just bills, bills and more bills. Those are for you," he said, gesturing towards a pile of cards by the till.

Vince watched his face as he spoke, sure that there was jealousy crossing his features. "You don't need to worry you know."

"Hmm?" Howard said, not looking up at him.

Vince smiled and shook his head, reaching for the pile of cards and sorting through them. He tutted. "This one's for you, you dipstick." He reached over and playfully swatted Howard on the head with it.

"For me?" Howard asked, looking confused. Who would post him a Valentine's card?

"Did you not even look through them?"

Howard shrugged. "I just assumed they were all for you." He took the card and looked at the writing on the envelope, smiling when he saw the artistically drawn letters. Seems they'd had the same, silly idea of wasting money on postage stamps, with Vince rather obviously spending the most – the card was huge. Howard carefully opened the handmade envelope and pulled out the card. He tried his best to hide the look of delight on his face as he looked over Vince's handiwork. He could tell he'd spent a lot of time on it, and he was touched. He looked up when he heard Vince giggle.

"What?"

"Just read your card," he said, smiling when he saw his card in Howard's hand. "Do you like it?"

"It's beautiful."

"Good. I've got you something else as well." He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out an envelope, handing it over.

Howard opened the envelope and pulled out two tickets. He almost jumped up in excitement when he read what was on them. "How on earth did you get these?! I try every year to get tickets to this jazz festival – they're like gold dust! How did you... how?"

Vince grinned, pleased that he'd made Howard so happy. "Managed to pull a few strings."

"And two of them? Are you...?"

Vince sighed dramatically. "Yes, yes. For you, I'm sure I could get through one weekend of it without killing myself... maybe"

Howard picked him up and swung him round, but had to put him down hastily when the bell above the shop door tinkled.

A man who looked to be in his fifties walked in, dressed in a red, velvet suit. He looked like a pimp for OAPs.

"Can I help you, sir?" Howard said, coming forward and smiling at him.

The man's gaze, however, was immediately drawn to Vince, who shrank back slightly when he saw the way he was looking at him.

"Good morning, young lady. I wonder if you may be able to help me?" he said, licking his lips rather disgustingly whilst he leered at the electro fairy.

Vince edged back round the counter and Howard, somewhat pissed off at the pimp's advances towards his boyfriend and noticing said boyfriend's discomfort, came round to stand in front of him.

"Sir?" he said again. "Can I help you?"

The man, who still had his eyes on Vince and was making him squirm uncomfortably, said "I believe the young lady was helping me, weren't you darlin'?"

"He is busy at the moment, sir. Just about to go and stock-take, weren't you Vince?"

"Stock-take?" Vince said, wrinkling his face in disgust, the words tumbling out before his brain registered what Howard was trying to do. "Oh, right!" He went to wander off, but he had to go past the scary pimp man, who grabbed his arm as he hurried past.

"Oh, yes, you'll do nicely."

"What?!" Vince exclaimed, shaking the man's hand off of him. Howard rushed forward and pulled Vince behind him.

'I think you should leave now," he said, his voice calm but firm.

"Yeah, get out, you weirdo."

The man bowed slightly. "Sorry to have bothered you," he said, smiling to show his horrible teeth before he slunk out of the shop.

Howard put his arm around Vince's shoulders, pulling the young man into him.

"Creep," Vince muttered. He looked up at his saviour and smiled. "Howwwwaaaarrd?"

His other half looked at him suspiciously. "Yeeessss?"

"Do you need me here?"

Howard shook his head in despair. "I think I might try and get Topshop closed down," he mused.

Vince's eyed widened in shock. "What?! No!"

Howard laughed and kissed his cheek. "Go on, bugger off. But don't be all day! I know you, you'll get distracted by something shiny and end up just staring at it for hours, lost to your own reflection in a thousand sequins."

He rolled his eyes. "Cheeky git. I'll see you later," he said, giving him a peck and pulling his coat on, wrapping up against the harsh February winds.

xxxx

Howard decided to make a real effort with how he dressed that evening. Rifling through his shirts, he pulled out a plain midnight blue one, smiling affectionately as heard Vince singing along to 'Cars' at the top of his lungs in the room next door as he straightened his hair. He teamed the shirt with a smart black suit, and even polished his best shoes. He decided not to go for a tie, opting instead to keep the top couple of buttons undone. He looked in the mirror, checking he'd shaved properly, splashed on some cologne and tousled his hair up a bit, as (apparently) it looked cuter that way. Once finished, he stood back and looked at his reflection in full, and for once, Howard Moon successfully passed as a hot date.

In the other room, Vince Noir was also studying his reflection intently. He'd bought a brand new outfit whilst out shopping, and was very pleased with the result. Sparkly black skinny jeans were tucked into a pair of silver knee high boots with a small heel. His top was a long-sleeved, red silk, low-cut smock - a black studded belt was slung low on his hips. A thin, glittery black scarf graced his neck, setting off his new necklace, the final touches being a touch of expertly applied black eyeliner and a subtle pink tinge to highlight the apples of his cheeks. The word 'sexy' was an understatement. He was torn away from the mirror when he heard Howard calling his name. He hovered for a second, trying to decide if he needed a bit more root boost, before eventually deciding that everything was perfect. He walked out and sashayed into the living room, his mouth dropping when he saw Howard.

"Wow, look at you!" he said proudly, biting his lip to stop the sudden urge he had to throw him on the sofa.

Howard turned and grinned broadly. "Thank yo..." he trailed off, noticing Vince and his extra sparkliness. "Well, don't you look pretty," he said, his voice so low it was almost a growl. He walked over and put his hands on his partner's hips, bending down to whisper in his ear. "Just you wait till I get you home, little man." He sounded almost animalistic, making Vince breathe in sharply and close his eyes. Howard's mouth lingered next to his ear, air rushing out and sweeping over his skin, making him shiver. When he pulled back, his eyes were dark and heavy, and he placed a lingering kiss on Vince's mouth.

"Su – sure you want to go out?" Vince stuttered, his face flushed with heat.

"Of course! You're going to love it." He winked at him, delighting in the dizzy look on his face.

There was a beep from outside.

"Come on, Taxi's here." Howard took Vince's hand, relishing in the spark that passed through them with the contact, and led him down the stairs.

xxxx

After a few too many flirtinis and glasses of wine, Vince was giggling hysterically at the drag queen who was currently singing 'It's Raining Men.' Howard had brought him to 'Super Queens,' one of London's best loved drag clubs, to watch the cabaret, and Vince was loving every second of it. He'd let out a strange excited squeal when the taxi had pulled up outside the club, practically flying out of the car and grinning madly. "I should have worn my feather boa!" he'd said, bouncing on his heels while urging Howard to hurry up as he'd paid the driver.

Howard gave his over-excited other half a sideways glance, rolling his eyes and smiling at the look of childlike glee spread across his features. When the song had finished, the audience roared with appreciation and Vince sat back in his seat, taking hold of Howard's hand as a waitress came over and cleared their table of their dessert dishes and empty wine bottles.

"Dance with me," Vince said, tugging on his hand as the disco started up.

Now, Howard, who had always thought he was cool in the past and normally did anything he thought would impress someone, shrank back slightly and shook his head. "You know I'm no good at dancing, Vince."

Vince frowned and pouted. "You don't want to dance with me?"

Howard sighed. "It's not that – of course I do. It's just that I can't."

"Rubbish," Vince said. He dropped a kiss onto his nose and smiled prettily at him. "You're with me – you'll be fine. Come on, my Russian bear."

"Vince..." he started to protest, but all of a sudden he found himself in the middle of the dance floor, Vince's arms around his neck, spinning him round in time to the music, and as he stared at his radiant face, he couldn't help but enjoy himself, if rather awkwardly. A few songs later, the tempo changed to something much slower and Howard felt himself relax. He could sway - swaying was easy. Vince buried his head in the crook of his neck, seemingly about to fall asleep as he sighed dreamily. Concerned, Howard put a finger under his chin and brought his head up to look at him.

"Tired?"

Vince shook his head resolutely before wishing he hadn't as the room started to spin. He smiled giddily, leaning forward to place a sloppy, drunken kiss on Howard's lips, missing his target slightly and catching the corner of his mouth. Howard frowned – Vince had had quite a bit to drink, but not enough to get him as drunk as he seemed to be now. He was usually able to handle his alcohol a lot better than this.

"Vince?"

Vince looked up and grinned at him stupidly, before a frown crossed his face and he stumbled slightly. Howard held him up. "Come on – home."

"No, no, no, no, no," Vince slurred. "Jusht need little boysh room."

"Fine, I'll go with you."

Vince prodded a finger into Howard's chest. "I can manage by myself, mister... mister." He pulled away and stumbled towards the toilets, spinning round clumsily to blow Howard a kiss and nearly crashing into a snogging couple. He just about caught his balance and continued on his way.

Howard went to follow him, but was stopped in his tracks when he saw a familiar, red velvet figure sweep into the toilets after him. A feeling of dread churned in his stomach, and he ran forwards, pushing through the crowd, not caring if he knocked anyone over. "Vince!" he yelled as he flew through the door, but the room was empty, save for Vince's necklace on the floor. He picked it up and fingered it gently, anger rising inside of him. Pocketing the necklace, he ran out of the toilets and raced home, desperately hoping that Naboo was back.

xxxx

"Naboo! Naboo!" Howard rushed up the stairs, only to be met with silence. Shit, he thought, diving for the phone and dialling the number for Naboo's mobile – only to be used in dire emergencies. Well, this was definitely an emergency. It rang, and it rang... and it rang. Howard cursed anything and everything, then tried again. This time Naboo answered.

"**You rang back, so I'm guessing it's important – It'd better be."**

"Naboo! Thank God. Vince has been abducted by this red guy and I have no idea where he's gone or what he's doing to him but he was really out of it even though he hadn't drunk enough and I think the bastard must have spiked his drink and -"

"**Woah! Howard! Calm down. Look, I'll be ten minutes, okay? Just hang on."**

Howard hung up the phone, sat down, got back up and then sat back down again, before getting up – again. He paced the room anxiously, worried sick about what might be happening to Vince. Deciding to do something constructive during the longest ten minutes of his life, Howard swapped his nice black boots for his converses, thinking they would be more comfortable if he had to give chase. He then paced again, mixed in a huge dose of panicking and then finally sighed with relief when Naboo and Bollo turned up.

"Howard," Naboo said, switching straight into action mode. "Did you see anyone dodgy hanging around you guys when you were out?"

"Yes, yes! This man came into the shop this morning – looked like a pimp, mid-fifties, dodgy teeth, red velvet suit, was all over Vince the moment he saw him. Got rid of him, but then I swear I saw him follow Vince into the toilets at the club but by the time I got there they were both gone."

Naboo stood there, looking horrified. "Pimp in a red velvet suit?"

Howard nodded.

"Oh, no! He's been taken by the Demon of Love!"

Howard looked at him, puzzled. "The Demon of Love?"

"He's evil, Howard. Once a year, on St. Valentine's Day, he emerges to kidnap the young and beautiful and takes them to his brothel, where the rich and powerful come and -"

"I get it, Naboo. What do we do?" Howard rubbed his hands over his face and Naboo looked at him sympathetically.

"He usually takes something from his victim and leaves it at the scene."

Howard reached into his pocket and pulled out the pendant. "Vince's necklace."

"Perfect. We'll need to go to the club. Bollo, go and get the tracking device from the loft – quickly!"

Bollo grunted and dashed off as fast a gorilla can.

Naboo looked at Howard's forlorn face and put a hand on his arm, his dark eyes shining in concern. "We'll find him, Howard."

xxxx

When Vince woke up, the first thing he noticed was his stinking headache. His vision swam and he blinked painfully to try and clear it. He went to put a hand up to his head, but found that his arms were tied behind him, the ropes rubbing harshly against his wrists.

"Drink this," a voice said, making him jump.

"Who are you? Where am I? Where's Howard?" he demanded to know, trying to keep his voice steady.

A man he recognised at the pimp from the shop stepped out from the shadows and forced the drink in his hand down Vince's throat. He spluttered and coughed as it was poured in way too fast.

"Good boy," the man said. "It will make you feel better. Apologies, but I had to drug you to get you here."

"Drug me?!" Vince cried, absolutely incensed, his headache slowly subsiding.

"Indeed. You are in my brothel – You're my new star attraction."

"Star attraction? Are you insane?!"

The pimp reached round behind Vince and untied him. Now that he could see properly, Vince noticed the room he was in was like some kind of boudoir. Rich red, purple and black fabrics adorned the plush room, the furniture comfortable and inviting. A chandelier hung from the ceiling, the candles it held flickering seductively.

Vince stood up, swaying slightly at the sudden rush of blood to his head. "Well, this all looks lovely, but I'd appreciate it if you could take me back to where I was. Howard will be missing me and -" he was cut off as the man laughed harshly.

"That loser?"

This angered Vince even more. "He is not a loser!" His hand flew to his neck, where he discovered, to his dismay, that his necklace was no longer there.

He smiled and took Vince's chin in his hand. "Vince, Vince, Vince. When will you get it? You're mine now, and your first customer is waiting."

Vince's eyes grew wide and frightened. "Customer? Just what sort of place is this?!"

"It's a place of want and desire. A place of heat and lust. This is my underworld and I am the Demon of Love - but you can call me Dave," Dave said, grinning horribly and showing his rotten teeth, a few gold ones shining between the blackness. He walked up to Vince and put his face right next to his. Vince squirmed and shuffled backwards, soon hitting a wall. Dave's putrid breath washed over him and he gagged.

"Now, be a good boy. I've got a nice, rich man waiting for you." With that, he turned and left the room.

As soon as the door shut, Vince ran to the window. It was pitch back and uninviting outside, but he would rather be stuck out there than in here. The window, however, opened about two inches before it locked. "Damn it!" he cried, looking round for another escape route and panicking when there was a knock at the door.

It opened slowly to reveal a large, disgusting looking man, his belly overhanging his black tuxedo trousers. Vince gulped and ran to the other side of the room.

"Well, aren't you a lovely young thing?" he said lecherously, his eyes boring into Vince's midriff and then flickering downwards.

Vince gulped. "I don't know what, uh, Dave has told you. But I'm not for hire. Sorry and all that, but you can leave now."

The man chuckled. "He said you'd play hard to get." He swung the door closed and took a few steps towards him. "I'm Roland, but you can call me Roly." He strode forward and tried to pin Vince to the wall, but the young man anticipated this and quickly slid out of the way. "I see - like a game of 'chase,' do ya?"

"Get away from me, or I swear to God, I won't be held responsible for my actions."

"Your actions are what I'm after, sugar. Now, let's see about getting you out of these fine clothes."

As he loomed towards him, Vince ducked out of the way again. "Don't try my patience, little darling. I always get my way, and I'll be having my wicked way with you very soon. Now come here..."

xxxx

Having gone back to the toilets in the club, Naboo quickly found the portal, and the three of them zoomed through on the magic carpet; Bollo at the front holding the tracking device. The steady beeping suddenly sped up, and they eventually came to a stop outside what looked like an old, gothic manor. It's turrets were sweeping and ominous against the dark, unfriendly sky. Sensual music poured out from within, mixing with the sound of... screams? Howard shivered.

"Let's get in there."

"Wait," Naboo said, putting a hand out to stop him from running off. "We need a plan. Bollo, you stay here with the carpet. Howard, we'll need to drink this," he said, handing him a small bottle. "People will see us, but it'll stop them from noticing us, if you get what I mean. We should be able to walk about the place freely, but it doesn't last long, about twenty minutes at a time and these are the only two bottles I have."

Howard nodded.

"Now, the thing this Demon hates the most is love – proper, true love, not lustful love. You'll need to get to Vince and profess your love for him in front of the demon. Sounds easy, but you'll literally have seconds. He can usually sense its presence and he could stop you before you even open your mouth. Once you've done that, he'll have to let Vince go. It's written in his contract, you see"

Howard decided not to question that part, and chugged down the bottle of potion. "Let's go."

xxxx

"Come on now, angel, don't keep me waiting," Roly drooled, getting ever closer to Vince, who stopped when something hard hit the backs of his legs. Chancing a quick glance down, he saw that he'd come into contact with the bed. Roly saw his opportunity and lunged forward, pushing Vince backwards onto the mass of pillows. He scrambled backward, but Roly pinned him down with his giant arms and grotesque stomach. He stank of alcohol and sweat and Vince wanted to be sick.

"Get off me!" he cried, struggling against him.

Roly just laughed, seeming to enjoy having Vince squirming underneath him. Vince's face reddened in rage and he spat at him. Roly stilled, a look of shock on his face which quickly turned into something dangerous. He slapped Vince hard across the cheek, pulling him up and throwing him onto the floor. Vince yelped in pain as his head came into contact with the wall.

"Watch it, you prick!"

Roly grabbed him and pulled him upright, shoving him back onto the bed. His fat hands went to Vince's waistband, where he tugged at the button until Vince managed to kick him in the face.

"You little bitch!" he roared. His threw his head down and bit into Vince's shoulder, causing him to scream out in agony. Roly, too busy with his sick ministrations, didn't notice when the door flew open and Howard appeared, looking angrier than Vince had ever seen him.

Motioning for Vince to keep quiet, Howard picked up a chair and promptly smashed it over Roly's head. Vince turned his face to avoid getting hit with the shards, and when he was sure that Roly had been knocked out, scrambled out from underneath him and launched himself at Howard, who caught him in his arms and held him there tightly.

"I was beginning to think I'd never see you again," Vince said, his voice trembling.

Howard pulled back, looking him over. "He hurt you," he said quietly, fighting the urge to finish Roly off there and then.

Vince shook his head. "It doesn't matter anymore."

"WHAT IS THIS?!" A voice roared from the doorway.

They spun round to see Dave standing there, redder than a beetroot. He was staring at Roly's still form.

"We're leaving," Vince said, defiantly.

Howard opened his mouth to say something, but Dave put his hand out and he found that he wasn't able to form the words he so desperately needed to say. Naboo appeared in the doorway, eyes wide.

"Too late, little shaman," Dave said, spinning round and fixing him with a manic grin.

"Too late?" Vince said.

Naboo went to speak, but again Dave put his hand up, and his words were silenced. He laughed nastily.

"Vince, my dear, I'll admit that they came here with the best intentions. You see, your friend here," he said, indicating to Howard, "had something very important to say to you, something which would have set you free. But, like the idiot he obviously is, he waited too long to say it, and now you're stuck with me. You see, Vince? Why go off with this pathetic excuse for a man, when you can have real men here." He smirked and Vince lunged for him, grabbing him by his shirt collar.

"Insult him one more time and I'll smash your teeth out."

Dave laughed at him. "Vince, look at yourself. You can obviously do so much better, all I'm saying is -"

SMACK!

Vince, summoning up strength he never even knew he had, punched him hard in the face. Dave fell backwards and slid down the wall.

"You'll regret that, my boy," he snarled, shakily pulling himself up.

"No I won't, you know why? Because I love him. I love him. Do you even know what that word means?" he turned to Howard and took his face in his hands. "I love you, Howard," he said, placing a gentle kiss upon his mouth.

Unbeknownst to him, Vince Noir had broken the demon's hold on him.

"Nooooo!!" Dave screamed – but it was too late. An invisible barrier formed between him and the three men, leaving them free to leave.

Howard instantly pulled Vince out of the room, Naboo hastily following them.

"What happened?" Vince asked, obviously confused as to why they were now so easily walking away.

"You broke the spell," Naboo said. "The demon hates true love. Howard was supposed to show the demon that he loved you, but was stopped before he could say anything. He didn't count on you though, and as soon as you admitted your love for Howard he had no choice but to let you go. It's a written rule."

Vince clutched Howard's hand as they walked down the corridor and looked up at him brightly, his deep blue eyes piercing his partner's chocolate brown gaze. "So," he said, rather coyly. "This is true love, then?"

Howard just shrugged. "Suppose it must be," he said, nonchalantly.

Vince was about complain about Howard's coolness until he spotted the sly smile playing across his lips. "You're an arse," he said, grinning.

"Yeah, but a lovely one at that," Howard replied, stopping him and sweeping him up in a kiss.

Naboo turned round a few seconds later, thinking they were still walking behind him. He sighed when he saw them latched onto each other a few metres away, but his eyes were humourous, even if his face didn't look it as he said, "When you've quite finished, I would like to get home!"

The two lovers smiled at each other, quickly catching up with Naboo. Howard put his hand in his pocket and fished out Vince's necklace.

"Here," he said as he handed it too him.

Vince let out a sigh of relief. "I thought I'd lost it!" He quickly put it back round his neck and ran his fingers over the wishbone, smiling as he felt the inscription on the back.

xxxx

"Ouch!" Vince exclaimed, sucking in air sharply as Howard tended to the wound on his head.

"Sorry," he said, quickly pulling his hand away. He dropped the cloth he was using into the bowl of water beside him, and stroked Vince's cheek tenderly with the back of his hand. "I thought I'd lost you," he whispered, his voice shaking slightly.

Vince kissed the tip of his nose. "You didn't though. You rescued me – my knight in shining armour."

Howard scoffed. "Hardly. Maybe I could take the credit for it if I'd spoken a bit quicker, but in the end you saved yourself."

"You know that's not true," he replied, shaking his head. "If you hadn't of come in when you did... if you hadn't..." he squeezed his eyes shut and looked away.

"I know," Howard said gently; but he felt himself getting angry again, and Vince turned back to him when he felt him tense.

"Don't. Everything's all right now."

"I should have killed him."

"No, because that would have made you no better than him – and you wouldn't do that anyway. Now, are you going to stick that plaster on my head, or what?"

Howard picked up the plaster that was resting in his knee and carefully placed it over the cut on Vince's temple. He ran his fingers over his dark fringe, pushing it to one side and trailing his fingers over his forehead and down the side of his face. Vince shivered and closed his eyes briefly, savouring the feel of Howard's skin on his. When he opened them again, he looked right into Howard's eyes and saw so much within them he thought his heart would stop. They were filled with passion and lust and desire, a look so raw and wild that Vince instantly crushed his mouth to his, a low moan in his throat as he tasted him, taking from him everything that he could. He slid his tongue over Howard's bottom lip and he opened his mouth for him, groaning as they explored each other thoroughly. After a few moments, Vince hesitantly pulled away, just long enough to whisper raggedly in Howard's ear.

"Make love to me."

If Howard had been standing, the desperate pleading in Vince's voice would have made his knees buckle. His skin tingled as his hot breath washed over his neck, and then their lips reconnected again as they stumbled blindly towards the bedroom, clothes being carelessly pulled off and thrown about haphazardly along the way.

"Howard?" Vince mumbled against his mouth.

"Mmmm..."

"Happy Valentine's day."

xxxx

Howard smiled lovingly as he watched Vince sleep. In all his life, he never dared to dream that he would feel love like this. It had taken over his very being, brought something out of him that he didn't even know existed. He never thought he would end up falling for his best friend - he thought he would eventually either end up with some woman he didn't particularly care for because no one else would have him, or he'd wind up alone for the rest of his life. He'd never even entertained the thought that he might end up falling in love with another man – but he had. And it had come so naturally. Funny how things turned out.

Vince snuffled slightly in his sleep before his eyes fluttered open and were met with a pair of chocolate orbs. He smiled. "Morning," he muttered sleepily.

Howard leant back against the pillows and pulled Vince into him.

"What time is it?" he asked.

Howard glanced at the clock. "Nearly midday."

Vince dropped a kiss onto his chest and looked up at him, his eyes the brightest blue Howard had ever seen. "Work," he mumbled.

"Nope – Naboo's given us the day off."

Vince perked up at this. "Really?"

"Really really."

"Hmm, that's interesting," Vince said, his lips twitching into a wicked smile.

"Is it now?" he teased, running his fingers along the side of Vince's chest, enjoying the feel of the goose-bumps he was bringing up on his skin.

Vince went to nibble at his neck, but Howard was faster and he pinned him down on his back, straddling him and making him cry out in surprise. He chuckled.

"Ready for round four?"

"Bring it on, big boy."

xxxx

**Reviews are very much appreciated! You never know, if I get enough I may even write a sequel to my sequel... xx**


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